> The upstream developers of Freeciv request to stop packaging the GTK+ 3
> client because recent versions of GTK+ 3 libraries apparently broke
> certain functionality which is vital to play and enjoy the game.
In fact there are multiple issues with freeciv-gtk3; what prompted this
was this bug report from a Jessie user that they couldn't found cities:
<http://gna.org/bugs/?22833>
I think this will probably turn out to be our (upstream) bug -- I doubt
it has anything to do with libraries -- but where we are right now is
that freeciv-gtk3 isn't ready for prime time, and shouldn't be the first
client that users run into.
(<http://gna.org/task/?7760> lists some more regressions from Gtk2 to
Gtk3, although most are only cosmetic.)
> My main concern is that our common practice of providing multiple
> clients is at stake here. Actually I don't see any reason to continue
> providing multiple clients because you can argue the same way for all
> other clients. They are not feature complete and probably buggy.
I don't think this issue needs to be inflated to whether multiple
clients are packaged at all; I'd be happy for freeciv-gtk3 to be in its
own package on its own terms, and am only suggesting pulling it entirely
to try to meet Jessie timescales. If we postpone resolution to
post-Jessie then the correct resolution is to split out a
freeciv-client-gtk3 package, not to remove freeciv-gtk3. (And it really
is too late to do anything for Jessie now, for practical purposes, I
think?)
Why this request was so late: I was vaguely aware that freeciv-gtk3 had
been packaged as of 2.4.0, packaged, but like Marko, I assumed that it
was in its own package, and I wasn't aware until recently that it was
included in the same package as the default/recommended client, with no
clear distinction between the two once installed.
(My original request attached, for the record.)
> In my opinion removing the GTK+ 3 client two weeks before the freeze
> is also a rather disruptive change and I would have expected more bug
> reports in the past months from people if the situation was really
> that bad.
Maybe I'm worrying overly; the Ubuntu 14.04LTS package is the same
shape, I think, and I don't recall seeing any fallout from that (either
upstream or in Launchpad). I've only fielded the one person who ran into
freeciv-gtk3 by accident.
In the end it's your decision as Debian maintainer, of course.
--- Begin Message ---
One last request for an updated package: can you ensure that users
aren't going to run into freeciv-gtk3 unless they go looking for it?
While it's more or less playable, it really isn't ready for prime time
yet :/
I'm not sure what the experience is at the moment, but I guess from the
desktop files that many users will see "Freeciv" and "Freeciv (gtk3)" as
peers. If so, they might well think "gtk3, that's newer so obviously
better".
I'm not sure what the fix is; in increasing order of disruption:
- edit the .desktop file to say it's experimental
- remove freeciv-gtk3.desktop entirely
- stop packaging freeciv-gtk3 at all
- split into two packages, with package description for gtk3 version
implying experimental flakiness
Sorry, this is rather late to say if you're planning to package today.
Just got a bug report from a Jessie user on #freeciv-dev who's using
gtk3; not sure what their thought process was yet.
I can raise a Debian bug for this if you'd prefer.
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